GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Quinton Hooker is starting to find his groove after a slow(er) start to the 2016-17 season, and that’s bad news for the rest of the Big Sky Conference moving forwards.

Coming into the season, we tabbed Hooker as our Preseason Big Sky Conference Player of the Year. He was coming off a year where he averaged 20.1 points per contest, recorded the program’s first-ever triple-double, and took home the College Court Report Player of the Year award.

In the past two games, both of which were wins for the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, Hooker averaged 25.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. On Saturday afternoon against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, Hooker was looking to continue his strong play and lead the Fighting Hawks to their third straight win.

Hooker scored a game-high 23 points for the Fighting Hawks, and was one of five players to score in double-figures on the day for the home side.